Well, my first car was a 1990 Toyota Corrola special edition (there was nothing special about that car.... <_< ).
Automatic 3 speeds (my parents bought it new in 90), that meant at legal limit (100
kph), no more kick down.
It handled very bad, suspension so soft...and going too fast on a small road, I turned it over real good.
Not a scratch on me, but the car was totalled....
My mother gave me this Toyota to get into a 1999.5 VW 2 doors Golf TDI automatic.
What a world of difference!
It handled well, had unbelievable torque (compared to the Corolla) and twice the fuel economy (from 500 km per tank on the Corolla to 1000 km per tank on the Golf).
My father had a GMC Vandura 1500 for 14 years when he bought a brand new 2000 GMC Sierra, extented cab, short bed, manual tranny (that's pretty rare to get it standard on the half ton models).
He gets around 20 mpg on highway with the 4.8 litre V8. That's honorable for a truck this big.
Finally, in 2003 I got my Passat Variant TDI.
After 3 years in a BMW (Bus Metro Walking), it was nice to have a very unique and distinctive vehicule (one of 1500 made for Canada).
